Year: 2017

Many stock market pundits have conflicting opinions as to how much of the tax cuts are baked into current stock prices. Some experts believe that a selloff in the stock market will occur in January as money managers rotate out of technology and into other sectors that will benefit the most from tax reform.

Their rational is tech companies were in a low tax environment before tax reform was passed and it is better to take profits when lower personal tax rates take effect in 2018.

In comparison, sectors like transportation, telecom, retailing and banking have high tax rates. In addition, the new tax bill also offers substantial write offs for new capital expenditures. Industrials, energy as well as telecom companies require large capital expenditures in order to grow their businesses. However, it is difficult to predict if and when these expenditures will occur.

“In a special report to clients, Barclays Capital analyst Maneesh Deshpande and team calculate that the benefit is less than it appears: While the statutory corporate tax rate is set to fall from 35 percent to 21 percent, the effective rate for S&P 500 companies (the rate companies actually pay after all the accounting trickery) is set to fall from 26 percent to 20.7 percent.”

On the other hand, some market watchers believe that tech companies should still be in your portfolio. There is still room to run higher because they have an opportunity to take advantage of the repatriation tax holiday which reduces the tax rate from 35% to 15.5%. The top 5 U.S. tech companies that have cash overseas:

Apple – 230 billion

Microsoft – 113 billion

Cisco – 62 billion

Oracle – 52 billion

Google – 49 billion

Although, the last repatriation tax holiday was at a much lower tax rate. The money was mostly given back to shareholders in the form of higher dividend payments and share buybacks. Should you invest hoping for history to repeat itself?

Secretary of the Treasury, Steven Mnuchin said:

“There is no question that the rally in the stock market has baked into it reasonably high expectations of us getting tax cuts and tax reform done.”

I tend to agree that a large portion of tax cuts are already priced in most U.S. stocks. For example: Charles Schwab (SCHW, $52.04) has had enough of the tax man. The online stock broker and banker has paid out a stunning 37% of its income in taxes over the course of the past five years, versus a rate in the mid-20% range for most other American companies. It was trading around $45.00 in Nov and it is up $7.00 or 15.5% in just a few short weeks.

The chart below contains the one year return for tech (xlk), financials (xlf), industtials (xli) and energy (xle):

Three of those sectors have already had above average returns for 2017. The energy sector has lagged but tax reform alone will not be enough to propel the energy sector higher. The price of oil is still the main factor in increasing the value of oil stocks.

Another factor to consider is the labor market is extremely tight and the post-recession surplus of economic potential may have run out. The tax reform bill may end up boosting inflation by more than it lifts economic growth encouraging the Fed to be more aggressive with interest rate hikes in 2018.

I am cautious optimistic that U.S. stock market returns will be positive in 2018. I believe that volatility will come back next year and offer some good buying opportunities. It could turn out to be a stock pickers market.

Legendary investor Warren Buffett, among others, is notorious for telling investors to buy what they know. Basically, Buffett and his enthusiastic followers suggest investing in companies that you really understand or at least know enough about them to be able to explain how they make money.

That is fairly good advice if you are an American since the S&P 500 generates nearly half of its revenue from outside of the United States. However, there is still a lot of risk in the form of sector concentration. For example, the tech sector accounts for nearly 21% within the S&P 500. Do you remember the bursting of the dot com bubble?

Home bias for Canadian investors is really risky. Seventy–five percent of the Toronto stock market is dominated by three sectors, energy, materials and financials. There are only a handful of companies in other sectors that are available to further diversify your portfolio. Year to date, the Toronto stock exchange is only up 5% compared to the S&P 500 which is up 18.5%, see chart below:

The Canadian market has under-performed when compared to the U.S. markets for the past five years. The main reason is the decline in oil prices which has effected many non-energy sector companies which still rely energy prices in determining their revenue growth. For instance, Canadian banks may rely on loans to energy companies to drive their growth rates. See the 5 year performance chart below:

Why home bias exists

Vanguard’s Investment Strategy Group identified a range of reasons why investors might not embrace global diversification, including concerns about currency risk and an expectation that their home country will deliver out sized returns.

One factor we identified—preference for the familiar—seems particularly relevant. With so much global uncertainty about geopolitics, monetary policy, and the economic outlook, it’s understandable why investors may not want to stray too far from home.

Why Canadian markets may continue to under perform the U.S.

Oil and gas exports are land locked and selling at a huge discount!

The housing market is slowing down due to a 15% foreign buyers tax, tightening mortgage rules and higher mortgage rates.

Tariffs on softwood lumber and airplanes from our largest trading partner (U.S.) has put the success of re-negotiating NAFTA questionable.

Passing of the U.S. tax reform legislation will make investing in Canada less attractive (plus we have a carbon tax and high electricity rates).

Canadian consumers are carrying high levels of debt which will slow down spending.

Exchange traded funds are a low cost way to diversify your portfolio outside of North America. Many providers offer the ability to hedge fluctuations in foreign currencies.

The markets are due for a correction, I would recommend slowly increasing your exposure to the U.S. stock market.

The average person is afraid of investing in individual stocks and 61 percent of millennials say they’re afraid of even getting started. Despite the fact that investing in the stock market has been shown to be the most efficient and effective way of turning money into more money.

Financial website How Much took a look at some popular stocks in 2007 to find out how much a $1,000 investment in each would be worth now, as of October 31.

In the above picture, the blue dots are equivalent to the $1,000 initial investment, so they are the same size for each company. The pink ones represent the current total value of the investment, so each of those varies.

“The larger the pink circle, the more your investment is worth,” according to How Much. “If the pink fits inside the blue, then you lost money. The graphic assumes that you took any dividend paid out in cash and did not reinvest into the company by buying more stock.”

Warren Buffett, Mark Cuban and Tony Robbins all agree index funds are a safe bet, especially for new investors, since they fluctuate with the market, stay pretty constant and eliminate the risk of picking individual stocks. However, if you were lucky enough to pick these 15 American stocks, your $15,000 would have been worth $99,291 compared to $26,741 for the S&P 500 (SPY).

What if you missed owning the two top performing stocks Netflix & Amazon? Your total return would have been $34,927 assuming that you didn’t panic during the great recession. There are other household names like Facebook or Visa that could have help you beat index returns.

Keep in mind, it is easy looking backwards! I do remember getting phone calls and emails from formal clients and co-workers looking for advice during the market meltdown of 2008-09. It is hard to do nothing and hold on to your investments when markets are down 35% to 45%!

My point is simple, even with the worse meltdown (2008-09) since the great depression of the 1930’s, you would have still made money investing during the past ten years. Investing in the stock market is still the most efficient and effective way of turning money into more money.

I found this article very informative and I think it is worth sharing.

By Patrick Watson

Remember when everyone wanted to cut the federal deficit? Fiscal policy was much simpler back then: balanced budget good, deficits bad. Times change. Now the House and Senate are considering tax legislation that, according to their own numbers, will add $1.5 trillion to annual deficits over the next 10 years.

This is okay, we’re told, because the tax cuts will stoke economic growth, thereby delivering added tax revenue that offsets the rate reductions.Note the bigger point here. Republicans still say they don’t like deficits—but apparently, this particular plan lets them cut taxes without adding more debt. It’s a miracle.

Is their claim really true? Will the GOP tax plans boost economic growth?

That’s the 1.5-trillion-dollar question.

Theory vs. Reality

The Republican plan’s centerpiece is a reduction in corporate tax rates from a 35% top bracket to only 20%. That would put the US more in line with other countries.

What you seldom hear is that most other developed countries also have value-added tax (VAT), a kind of consumption tax. The US doesn’t. Our tax system will remain different, and not necessarily better, under the new proposal.

Anyway, the theory is that lower tax rates will entice businesses to bring back operations they currently conduct overseas. They will build new factories and hire more US workers. Those workers will spend their higher incomes on consumer goods, and we’ll all be better off.

Unfortunately, that thinking has several flaws.

For one, as we saw in the NFIB Small Business Economic Trends report that business owners say that finding qualified workers is their top challenge right now. Reducing corporate tax rates won’t make new workers magically appear, nor will it improve the skills of those already here.

What increasing labor demand might do is spark that inflation the Federal Reserve has wanted for years. There’s also a good chance it could spiral out of control, forcing the Fed to hike interest rates even faster than planned—which could offset any benefit from the tax cuts.

Fortunately, such added labor demand will appear only if businesses respond to the lower tax rates by expanding US production capacity.

Will they? Let’s ask.

“Why Aren’t the Other Hands Up?”

This month, in one of its regular business surveys, the Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank asked executives, “If passed in its current form, what would be the likely impact of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act on your capital investment and hiring plans?”

Here are the results.

Image: Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta

Only 8% of the executives surveyed said the bill would make them increase hiring plans “significantly.” Only 11% said they would significantly increase their capital investment plans. A solid majority answered either “no change” or “increase somewhat.”

Other surveys reached similar conclusions.

White House Economic Advisor Gary Cohn had an awkward moment last Tuesday at a Wall Street Journal CEO Council meeting. Sitting on stage to promote the tax cuts, Cohn watched as the moderator asked the roomful of executives whether their companies would expand more if the tax bill passed.

When only a few hands rose, Cohn looked surprised and said, “Why aren’t the other hands up?”

So maybe they were distracted or needed a minute to think. Fair enough. A few hours later, White House Economist Kevin Hassett appeared at the same event and asked the same audience the same question.

He got the same result: only a few raised hands.

Pocketing Profits

None of this should surprise us. Tax rates are only one factor businesses consider when deciding to expand. The far more important question is whether consumers will buy whatever the new capacity produces.

Think about it this way: if you’re a CEO and you have difficulty selling your products profitably now, why would lower taxes make you produce more? Even a 0% tax rate is no help if you lack customers.

As a CEO and member of the Board of Directors at a public company, I can tell you that if we had an increase in profitability, we would have been delighted, but it would not lead in and of itself to more hiring or an increase in wages. Again, we would hire more people if we saw growing demand for our products and services. We would raise salaries if that is what it took to hire and retain great people. But if we had a tax cut that led to higher profits absent those factors, we would ‘pocket it’ for our investors.”

By “pocket it,” Mendels means executive bonuses, share buybacks, or higher dividends. That’s what 10 years of Federal Reserve stimulus produced. A corporate tax cut would likely have a similar effect.

Choose Wisely

As I’ve said for months, I don’t think the House and Senate can agree on any significant tax changes. The two chambers have different political incentives they probably can’t reconcile.

So I think we’ll be stuck with the current tax system. The economy will limp along like it has been and eventually go into recession. The hope-driven asset bubble will pop, hurting many investors.

If I’m wrong and the GOP plan passes in anything like the current form, we will get higher deficits but little additional growth. The tax cuts will flow to asset owners and shareholders, probably blowing the market bubble even bigger. That will make the inevitable breakdown even more painful.

Do you agree with Patrick?

Golf season in Canada can be very short because of bad weather. One of my guilty pleasures is heading south for an annual golf trip with the boys every November. We started this tradition sixteen years ago and I would have to be very ill to miss it.

As a volunteer driver, I experienced first-hand the panic at the Orlando airport while dropping off a friend after our last round of golf. We decided to go early so we could have dinner together at the airport. Walking in, we faced a stampede of frighten travelers running and screaming to the exits.

Some travelers thought they heard gun fire while others thought that they heard an explosion. Standing outside watching the Orlando Police conduct their investigation with weapons drawn was very alarming.

It turns out that a camera battery exploded in a bag which cause people to panic and the airport to be evacuated. Thousands of travelers faced hours of waiting at security checkpoints.

Phil Brown, CEO of the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority, said a full ground-stop was issued at 5:30 p.m. and lasted until 9 p.m. At a press conference Friday night, Brown said 24 flights were canceled and 27 others were diverted. He acknowledged that some passengers will have to book new flights, and others might struggle to find hotel rooms for the night.

He added that some airport staff and TSA agents instructed the crowd to take cover, when the initial explosion created confusion among staff and passengers.

At first glance, it may seem that the Orlando Aviation Authority may have over reacted to a faulty camera battery. However, it happened on the same day that Americans celebrate veteran’s day. Plus no one wants to read about children getting hurt after visiting Disney World.

I felt bad for my friend who ended up sleeping at the airport as his flight was cancelled and rescheduled for 2:30 p.m. the next day. I was lucky that my early morning flight was cancelled and I got some extra sleep. It made delays in my rescheduled flight a little more bearable.

Will this unfortunate incidence stop me from going south golfing? Not a chance, however I may decide to spend a few extra days driving instead of flying.

The moral of this story is managing risk extends beyond the financial markets. Panic and over reaction can easily cause a major sell off in stock markets. You can’t predict what will cause a stampede to the exits.

It’s that time of year when scary things come out on Halloween. However, when you open your door on October 31, will you be confronted by anything scarier than these hair-raising financial horror stories?

Will debt destroy your future?

Student loan debt has reached $1.45 trillion dollars in the U.S. and $42.9 billion in Canada. U.S. graduates owe on average of $37,712 and $27,000 for Canadians.

Credit card debt is increasing in both countries. Americans carry an average of $16,000 and $4,100 for Canadians

107 million Americans have auto loans for a total outstanding debt of $1.2 trillion. It is estimated that 40% of the 120 billion dollars in auto loans in Canada are financed for 7 years or longer.

Mortgage debt in Canada is a bigger problem than the U.S. because mortgage interest is not tax deductible. Average mortgage in Canada is around $200,000 (much higher in cities like Toronto & Vancouver) and $192,000 in the U.S.

Will someone steal your identity?

First we find out that the Yahoo hack in 2013 exposed the information of every single one of their 3 billion accounts and then we find out that a data breach at Equifax exposes the personal information of 145.5 million people. Is there a single American who hasn’t been hacked yet?

The odds are great that your personal information is for sale to identity thieves or already in their hands. Can you foil them with credit freezes and other ID protection measures before it’s too late? Is it already too late? Does your VISA card contain mysterious purchases for 10 large screen TVs from Best Buy?

U.S Health Care Nightmare

Who knows what horrors await you if you become sick and your insurance premiums are too high for you to afford? Average out-of-pocket medical costs continue to rise, topping $10,000 in 2016. Meanwhile, premiums continue to rise on the health care exchanges.

Over the past four years, premiums in the individual marketplace have more than doubled. As insurers back out of some markets and political uncertainty reigns, premiums on the state insurance exchanges continue to rise rapidly. For example, rates in Georgia are up by 57%.

Scary lack of retirement savings

According to a report from the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), the mean retirement savings of all working-age American families, which the EPI defines as those between 32 and 61 years old, is $95,776. Almost 40 million households have no retirement savings at all.

Only 65% of Canadians are saving for retirement and on average have about $84,000 in retirement accounts. (RRSP & TFSA)

Frightening Canadian Energy Policies

No access to foreign markets for oil & gas (besides the U.S.)

Cancellation of Energy East pipeline (buying oil from the Middle East, selling discounted oil to the U.S.)

What list of potential horrors would be complete without the prospect of nuclear war? The current tense relations between the U.S. and North Korea make that horrible concept more plausible and in addition to the terrible death toll and destruction of property, the financial impact on the world economy would be hard to imagine.

Remember the famous quote of Albert Einstein, “I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.”

Now remember the leaders who have their fingers on their respective nuclear buttons. ARE YOU FRIGHTENED YET?

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Last week marked the debut of an upstart fund called the AI Powered Equity ETF, an actively managed security that seeks to use artificial intelligence to beat the market. The exchange-traded fund officially launched last Wednesday so it is too early to measure how this fund will perform over the long term.

At its core, AIEQ ETF is powered by the big-data processing abilities of IBM’s Watson. It is responsible to develop a portfolio of stocks that will be able to offer results that are not only better than human stock pickers but also the overall market. Most ETFs are passively managed and follow indexes like the S&P 500, the Dow industrials or other sectors. In other words, your new portfolio manager is a computer program.

The fund currently is composed of 70 stocks, plus an allotment of cash, that are spread around sectors. Components are determined by “their probability of benefiting from current economic conditions, trends, and world- and company-specific events,” EquBot said in a news release.

The top five holdings by concentration are Penumbra 4.63%, Boyd Gaming 4.51%, Genworth Financial 4.45%, Mednax 3.8% and Triumph Group 3.52%, according to XTF.com. The turnover is expected to be high around 2% – 3% per day. The fund charges an expense ratio of 0.75%, which is slightly lower than the average expense ratio for actively managed ETFs.

The information explosion has made the jobs of portfolio managers, equity analysts, quantitative investors and even ETF builders more challenging. New technology in artificial intelligence could help solve those challenges. There’s still quite a range in AI models being used. There could be other quantitative groups that are looking at the same raw data but analyzing it in a different way, meaning the same input material can result in different insights and outcomes.

Another example of an unusual method for picking stocks is Buzz US Sentiment Leaders ETF BUZ, an exchange-traded fund that selects its holdings based on positive chatter in social media and other online sources. The fund is up 17.2% in 2017, above the 13.9% rise of the S&P 500.

If the IBM’s Watson stock picking outperforms over the first quarter and money flows into the EFT, you’re going to see 20 competitors inside of six months.

This is a very gutsy structure, I am putting this ETF on my watch list. I am also going to monitor the top ten holdings of this ETF to get some stock picking ideas.